Monday, December 31, 2018

A very late write up of a year that I can see contained a lot of graphic novels/comics, some fantasy and only two non-fiction books (A Burglar's Guide to the City and The Book that Made Me).
From a year or so on, the ones that I think were my favourites are The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss and A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.

I loved Sarah Moss' Night Waking a few years ago and The Tidal Zone has many of the elements that I enjoyed- a somewhat wry narrative voice, an interest in the way we relate to the past from the present and the inclusion of history, as well as some interesting family dynamics. The Tidal Zone deals with the way people reconstruct life after a catastrophe, in the reconstruction of Coventry Cathedral and the recovery of the protagonist's daughter from a sudden collapse.

A Gentleman in Moscow is a fairly gentle and charming book about a member of the Russian aristocracy who gets stuck living in a fancy hotel at the advent of the revolution. Something of a comfort read, one that I liked very much.

Like everyone else I loved A Brilliant Friend, but I still haven't read the sequels. I found Toni Morrison's Jazz a bit disappointing- I think it's one of those things where it was the wrong book for my mood, and I struggled with the repetition and circling structure. I read the Crazy Rich Asians books because of the hype and loved them- some fun escapism.

So as per tradition, all books finished for the first time in 2017:

Berlin, Vol. 1: City of Stones by Jason Lutes
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab
A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
Running by Cara Hoffman
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Anders
Archie Vol 1: The New Riverdale by Mark Waid
The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John
Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra
Saga Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
To Love and Be Wise by Josephine Tey
Rivers of London: Body Work by Ben Aaronovitch
Rivers of London: Night Witch by Ben Aaronovitch
The Trespasser by Tana French
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The Book That Made Me by Judith Ridge (ed)
The Good People by Hannah Kent
The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
A Burglar's Guide to the City by Geoff Manaugh
Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd
Jazz by Toni Morrison
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older